Visualize your payment schedule, principal/interest breakdown, and total interest paid over your loan term with this Canadian mortgage amortization calculator.
How this mortgage amortization calculator works
For this amortization calculator to work the following inputs are needed:
- Mortgage Amount: this is the total loan that is outstanding
- Interest Rate: the mortgage rate that you secured on the loan
- Amortization Period: This is the loan period in years
- Additional Payments: These are one-off payments that help pay of the mortgage faster.
What is a mortgage amortization schedule?
Principal vs. Interest
When you start making payments on your mortgage they are mostly made up of interest. However, later on in the amortization period the payments are made up mostly of princpal.
Payment Frequency
The payment frequency that you use to pay off a mortgage (Monthly, Bi-Weekly, Accelerated Weekly) etc. can help you save interest and shorten the amortization period that you would otherwise need.
Interest Rate
The interest rate that you select for your mortgage will directly impact the monthly mortgage payment. A higher interst rate will increase the size of your monthly payment and the overall interest that you will pay over the term of the loan.
Strategies to pay off your mortgage faster
If you want to pay off your mortgage faster there are some good strategies that you can implement. The first is making additional payments. Even if they are small regular extra payments they can make a big difference. Alternatively, you could also make larger lump-sum payments using funds from bonuses or tax refunds. As mentioned above a shorter amortization period at renewal will help you pay off your mortgage faster. You can also choose an increased payment frequency, switching from monthly to bi-weekly or accelerated bi-weekly. You may also be able to achieve a faster payoff by securing a lower mortgage rate through refinancing your mortgage.